Soon, free treatment for Hepatitis-c patients

NEW DELHI: In a significant move aimed at eliminating hepatitis C, the Centre has decided to provide free treatment to patients suffering from the life-threatening disease. According to a senior official, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has given its in-principle consent for the preparation of a roadmap to eradicate the disease, which has no visible symptoms in comparison to other critical ailments.

The Centre has decided to bring hepatitis C under its universal healthcare programme after the successful completion of a similar project in Punjab. It’s noteworthy that Punjab was the first state that had introduced free treatment facility for hepatitis C patients in June 2016 christened as Chief Minister’s Hepatitis-c Relief Fund scheme. As per the findings, out of the above 40,000 patients, who were treated under the scheme, 92 per cent of them were cured. “Hepatitis C is curable if is treated at the right time. The success rate of some of the direct-acting antiviral drugs, including Sofosbuvir is more than 90 per cent,” the official said, adding that the primary challenge is to screen the disease as there are no specific visible symptoms.

“Most of the time, even patients don’t get a clue that they are suffering from hepatitis C and delay in treatment would lead to liver cancer in patients. So our priority would be comprehensive screening as when patients with fever, tiredness, nausea, vomiting trouble were screened in Punjab, it was found that they had hepatitis C,” the official said.

The official further said, “On the start of the pro- gramme, the confirmed cases of hepatitis C would be registered under the scheme, and they would be provided with a 12-week medicine course. The total cost of a course would be around Rs 7,000.”

In India, about 1.84 lakh people die every year due to hepatitis B and hepatitis C, which is twice the number of deaths caused due to HIVAIDS. Notably, the WHO has also set a goal of eradicating hepatitis C by 2030.